he story of the Earth and Dusk is a long an arduous one. The Dusk Epoch covers roughly a 100 years, from 2020 to 2120.
2020: The Cracks begin appearing. Well, as much as invisible fields of energy can “appear”, anyways. They begin releasing small amounts of so-called “dark energy”. Honest-to-goodness magic begins working, albeit poorly, and honest-to-goodness monsters begin walking the earth, albeit in small numbers.

2022: Victor Art becomes CEO of Roanoke Industries. R.I. had, up until this point, been a relatively small corporation mostly involved in acquiring contracts from think-tank companies and developing prototypes for them, but Victor had big plans for the company. Unknown to most (and unproven by those who knew), Victor Art went by another name in certain circles, namely in those of organized crime. Here, he is known as The Padre. Victor put his knowledge of the shadier side of business to effective use. Within the first five years of business, R.I. had acquired over 200 patents of their own and had begun buying out the very businesses that had been subbing out work to them a few years earlier.

2028: The Tarot begins gaining nation-wide footholds, with decks (local cells of the gang) appearing in every major city in the U.S. No one is sure how they grew in power and influence so rapidly. When questioned, the members always credit “magic”, but of course, everyone knows they’re lying, or insane.

2032: Roanoke Industries develops and patents the first fusion generator. These generators are massive and expensive, only practically useful in government and military applications. regardless, many cities begin switching over. With each one that does, R.I.’s influence grows.

2038: The world’s attention collectively turns to human augmentation when Gregory Lazlo steps forward and claims that he has effectively halted his body’s aging process. Despite numerous attempts no one can replicate his results. Thousands call him a fraud. He seemingly proves them all wrong over the course of the next 50 years as he doesn’t age a day.

2040: Although true immortality is never achieved, thousands of discoveries are made in the arena of human augmentation, most of which are made by Roanoke industries and its subsidiaries. The three main areas of advancement are Neural Implants, Cybernetic Enhancements, and Chemical Augmentation. This decade marks the beginning of the “Golden Age”. An age of relative peace and prosperity. Although many of the discoveries had definite applications for war, most were not even considering the possibility. Fusion generators were able to be made (relatively) cheaply and in a size that made it available to the masses. Thus, power sources were no longer an issue, and advancements in gene manipulation allowed for lush crops to be grown easily in even the most arid of climates. During this time there was also an unprecedented openness and sharing of scientific knowledge between nations. Most of this openness was made possible by the hard work of Gregory Lazlo, who acted as an international peace broker with a great amount of skill.

2042: It is during this period that the two main competitors of Roanoke Industries (at least in the sphere of legitimate business)crop up. Triton excels in the areas of advanced military technology while Veritas breaks ground in the newly discovered and relatively unexplored arena of Meta-Human Potential.

2045: In the midst of the Golden Age, a creeping paranoia is intruding upon the lives of nearly everyone. Though no one will acknowledge it. Unexplained disappearances are at an all-time high around the world and mental health issues are becoming more and more common.

2056: The first true advancement in Antimatter Technology is made by Roanoke Industries, though far from commercial or even military application, this is a significant leap forward.

2063: Veritas begins studying the increase in mental issues in the general populace. It does this by opening what could be equated to free medical clinics for the insane. These Houses of Truth become an incredibly convenient way for people to deal with the otherwise inconvenient problem of their insane family members and friends. Many patients admitted to these institutions are never seen again, and many of the people that admitted them don’t mind that.

2077: Victor Art is the first to successfully transfer his consciousness into an artificial body using technologies developed by Roanoke Industries. His artificial body is powered by a miniaturized fusion generator, the first of its kind.

2080: Roanoke Industries exploits loopholes in international trade laws and develops a subsidiary company called Hyperion Corp. Though technically a “freelance security firm,” Hyperion is actually R.I.‘s private army. Those with the ability to notice such things realize that Hyperion seems to hire primarily from among members of certain gangs, specifically those affiliated with the Padre. Hyperion employs all the most advanced technology developed by Roanoke Industries, much of which isn’t even available to national militaries. Outfitted thus, Roanoke begins building Trade Enclaves all over the world, though they more closely resemble military bases. Much of the modern world is built upon Roanoke technology, so the common man doesn’t think much of it. That combined with the fact that almost every major world leader is in Victor Art’s pocket means no one stands up against Roanoke’s advances.

2084: It comes to the light that both Triton and Veritas have deep connections with the Tarot. Though both corporations are large enough to avoid any true consequences, this causes an immense amount of tension between Victor Art’s businesses (both legitimate and illegitimate) and the Tarot’s. Each organization has more resources than a country and access to top of the line technology. Though no overt action is taken, each begins arming itself, both literally and figuratively as each one begins bribing or blackmailing various nations to join their side behind the scenes.

2090: Gregory Lazlo disappears without a trace. This an impressive feat considering that he is one of the most famous men in history, and the most popular man on the globe. Without his wisdom and skill as a national advisor, most countries declare allegiances to either the Tarot (or at least their puppet companies, Triton and Veritas) or Roanoke Industries. Each company becomes an international superpower overnight. The Golden Age is over.

2095: A sudden flurry of “unrelated” laws are passed in almost every country around the globe, collectively referred to as the Sovereignty Accords, granting certain mega-corporations sovereign rule and independence from national laws. This formalized what had already been happening for a decade.

2097-2107: The next 10 years remain relatively quiet for the common man, scientific advancement has slowed to a crawl as nations and companies (which are becoming the same thing) that used to share knowledge freely now horde secrets fiercely. Corporate espionage is the new warfare, and massive trade embargoes between corporate nation gives rise to the largest international black market in history.

2108: War breaks out. It started when one of the mysterious leaders of the Tarot, known only by his (or her) title of Temperance, vanished. The body was found dead 2 weeks later inside a Roanoke Trade Enclave. Over the next two and a half years, billions of people die in the fighting.

2111: The year of The Shattering. At midnight on December 22, 2111 the world ended.